The
village of Serradifalco is a small 'Comune' in central Sicily,
in the
Province of Caltanissetta.
The pronunciation of the town's name in the Sicilian language is Serradifarcu (sair-uh-dee-FAR-koo). It is not far from the provincial capital, the
City
of Caltanissetta, originally called by the Romans 'Castrum Niciai' (Fort of Nicia)
after the
Carthaginian invader, admiral Nicia. Its 12th-century Saracen occupiers then called
it 'Qalat al Nisaà'
(the fort of women). Today, a local nickname for the city is 'Nissa'.

As early as about 1400 AD, the area known as 'Serra del Falcone' was a vast
feudal "fief", or holding, of the Spanish noble family
Moncada. The last Moncada to own
the fief in which the town of Serradifalco was eventually founded was Guglielmo Raimondo Moncada VI, a direct
descendant of El Cid, the legendary
champion of Spain.

The Grifeo family acquired the fiefdom in
1617, and the incorporated Comune
(town) of Serradifalco was founded in 1640 by Baron
Francesco Grifeo. Since he was only five years old at the
time, the license was granted by King Felipe III of Spain, to
Grifeo's grandmother and guardian, Donna Maria Sarzana-Ventimiglia. Just
twelve years later, in 1652, the fief and town were acquired by
Baron Leonardo Lo
Faso Pietrasanta of Palermo, who was later named Duke of Serradifalco. Many
peasant legends whirl around the town's name. One of these, recounted by the
inhabitants of the "Falbaccaro" district, tells of a fabled
falcon or hawk that
lived in the cliffs during the time of the Moncada
princes.Serradifalco's coat of arms, showing a hawk,
is reproduced above.
Like mainland Europe, Sicily once had a feudal system, with Baroni (Barons),
Duci (Dukes), Signori (Lords), and Cavaliere
(Knights); and many Sicilian families have "noble"
origins. Most, however, came from peasant stock, and it was generally they who emigrated
to America and elsewhere, seeking a better life.

In 1836, Serradifalco's Duke Domenico Lo Faso Pietrasanta was the firstpresident
of Sicily's Commission of Antiquitiesand Fine Arts. He was
a public benefactor who sponsored the excavation and preservation of Sicilian historical
sites like the temple of Castor and Pollux in Agrigento. That
year, sculptor Valerio Villareale and archaeologistFrancesco Saverio Cavallari unearthed and re-erected three ancient fluted
Greek Doric columns there, by order of the Duke of Serradifalco. He was also a
reknowned archaeological historian and library curator, who produced the first modern
archaeological map of Sicily. In professional circles, he was called simply "Serradifalco". During the "Rivoluzione
Federale", a period of political upheaval in Italy, Serradifalco helped preserve Sicilian history by sending books on archaeology and architecture to the Library of Palermo
for safekeeping. Domenico died in Florence in
1863, at the age of ninety.

For centuries, Serradifalco was a center of natural, cultural and economic upheaval, with
earthquakes and famines in the 1600's, followed by the death throes of feudalism in the
1700's, cholera epidemics in the early 1800's, with the century ending in revolution and
emerging socialism, which fermented the beginnings of the Mafia in the early twentieth
century. The contadini (peasant farmers) and zolfatai (sulfur miners), the
presumptive heirs of the peons and vassals of the feudal society, were the poorest and
most persecuted segment of the population. In 1912, the miners were outspoken
advocates for social change and against the Mafia. About that time. the Coniglios
and others began emigrating to the new world. Somehow, "going to America
for a better life" doesn't fully express the despair they felt for their
homeland, nor the hope they envisioned over the horizon.

The town that they left behind still
has its original layout, with ancient streets now called Via Roma, Corso
Garibaldi, Via Crucillà, etc.

It is about 1,600 feet above
sea level, in central Sicily, in an area rich in minerals and ores. The patron saint
of Serradifalco is San Leonardo Abate(St.
Leonard the Abbot). A French nobleman-turned-monk, he is also known as
the patron saint of prisoners of war,expectant mothers,
and those in danger from brigands, robbers, and thieves.
He died on November 6th in the year 559. His official church feast day is
November 6, but the town celebrates his festival each year on the second Sunday of August
(it's much warmer then!).

Serradifalco is a small country village, but there are some local
attractions:

the Chiesa Madre(Mother Church of S. Leonardo)
completed in 1678, with a gilded statue of San Leonardo,
sculpted by Giancarlo Viviano in 1661. The
church also claims a relic, a nail from the cross at Calvary; the Palazzo Ducale, or Ducal Palace, on the Via Duca di Serradifalco;

Lago
Soprano(Soprano Lake, also called "Cuba"),
a migratory fowl preserve with unique hydrology. It was formed only
within the past hundred years, and has no surface streams flowing in or out; and